College of Communication > About > College News > 2017 News Archive > MCS Grad Alum David Stewart Works on Hal Ashby Doc

MCS Grad Alum David Stewart Works on Hal Ashby Doc

'Hal' documentary will play the 2018 Sundance Film Festival

'Hal' documentary
David Stewart, a 2016 alum of the Media and Cinema Studies
graduate program, is part of the crew who worked on a new documentary about director Hal Ashby that has been accepted to the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

Hal, directed by Amy Scott, is a documentary about the Oscar-winning director Ashby and his celebrated films, which include Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), Coming Home (1978) and Being There (1979). It will will be screened at the Sundance Festival as part of the U.S. Documentary Competition.

Stewart worked as an archival research/post-production assistant on the film, finding rare photos, audio excerpts, and raw film footage for the production. During his work in our MCS graduate program, Stewart expressed an interest in research and archival work in the film and television industry as a career. He honed his skills in this area taking our MCS 504 Historiography class with Prof. Blair Davis, focusing on issues of production and audience reception in film history, with a specific focus on 1970s Hollywood.

The Sundance Film Festival runs from January 18-28, 2018.